Hippie Preacher Podcast

Part of me is happy to see 2025 winding down. It’s been… a year. This morning, as I was spending my reading and praying time, thoughts of this time last year flooded my mind. As Christmas approached last year, it was clear that, without a miracle, we would need to move from the town where we had invested the last 8 years in planting Today. Church. No miracle, so we packed up to live like the Green...

I went to a baptism revival today. It’s a Kayla Gabbard ministry thing. https://kaylagabbardministry.com All I knew of her was a few Google searches and listening to a few minutes of some videos. I’ve been offered to go live on Substack tonight to talk about it, and maybe some other things in the news. Had no idea what to expect, and to be rea,l the whole concept seemed odd to me. It was promoted...

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Can you imagine a life without worry, stress, anger, offense, and hurt feelings? It IS possible. That’s the Way Jesus proclaimed. But most Christians believe that kind of life is some kind of unattainable ideal. We tolerate and excuse the low-hanging works of the flesh. Sin. But how? By focusing on bashing those we deem guilty of hot-button sins… from the same flesh works list. Lists rather. Galat...

The Gospel, the Good News, isn’t about me fixing others. It’s not even about fixing me. It’s about knowing Jesus to become who you were created to be. Like Him. Here. Now. When you believe that truth, and receive the gift of a clear conscience you didn’t earn, things start fixing themselves–in you first. Only then, can you really help others. In His likeness. Born again. Hello new creature! A new...

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NET)So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away - look, what is new has come! I hope you've never experienced the heartbreak of a loved one with dementia or debilitating memory loss. That look of fear, confusion, and vulnerability in those sad eyes. It's beyond painful to watch. No one with an ounce of compassion would blame them, shame th...

Whether you think Jesus is a myth or the Son of God, one thing is undeniably true. There is none like Him. From Buddha to Socrates, Paul to Luther to Calvin, every philosophy, religious leader, or movement in history has carried flaws, contradictions, and compromise. Only Jesus claims and embodies unequivocal, humble, self-sacrificial love without the spot or blemish of human weakness. The doctrin...

A spiritual Ice Age is overtaking American Christianity. If you can’t see it, then unfortunately, you are probably part of it. Here’s what’s happening in Jesus terms politically. The executive branch is defying the judicial branch. Breaking the law is defined that way by that constitution and stuff. Like we learned in middle school. Basic stuff. Cue the usual “but what about…” justifications. It’s...

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” I remember studying about the Statue of Liberty in the 1970s as a kid in school. We were taught that welcoming immigrants was part of the American identity. It was also understood that the prin...

One of the most rewarding times of my life I had more than a dozen disciple-making meetings each week, plus a couple of house churches, Sunday morning church, and early morning prayer meetings. Time-wise that’s more than a full time job–not even counting the study and prep time. If I were to win the lottery, that’s what I would be doing. As I pray for provision, that’s the ultimate goal. Full time...

I've tried to be very transparent about our life situation. January 20th, 2025, taking the advice of those who keep us accountable, I started a few month’s sabbatical as the pastor of the church we planted in 2017. We literally packed up everything and moved two hours away to a fixer-up house we inherited a few years ago. We’re living in a borrowed RV on the front lawn right now. The transition fr...

We finally watched the new Bonhoeffer movie last night. While some factual liberties were taken to imply support for what I call militant Christianity the life and death of Bonhoeffer are well documented in his own writings. He had the courage to speak Jesus truth to power in both the church and the government. And it got him killed. Bonhoeffer stood against a church that traded the gospel for nat...

I haven't been able to write much this year. We had to make some tough choices and ended up taking a sabbatical from pastoring and moving to a fixer-up house we inherited. And by fixer-up... let's just say we were miraculously able to borrow an RV parked in the front yard to have a place to sleep. Other than the roof... just about everything else needed work to be habitable. I'm an audio and compu...

2024 is winding down. A lot happened. A lot I wanted to happen didn't. There were successes and failures. And, as usual, I learned more from the valleys than the mountain tops. Early last year, I started the Hippie Preacher podcast and blog. It's been amazing. Though my content quantity goals were too optimistic, the response and engagement have been encouraging. And just when it kicked off... so...

I wear those T-shirts a lot. Yet, in the final stretch of 58 years, I still don’t know how to completely deny myself and be willing to risk everything to follow Jesus. But I learn more every day. Mostly through my own failures. Like what I'm talking about today. Hippie Preacher Perspectives is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or pai...

No matter who wins this… or rather, now, no matter who won this election, God is still on the Throne, and Jesus is still my Lord and Messiah. This is going to be long. If you wonder about why I post and say what I do… my hope is that you read or listen to the end. If not, here are the highlights. I’m thankful we had a fair and democratic election. If I believe God is in control, then I’m also than...

Today, I’m concerned about things a lot more urgent than the election. No matter who wins or loses, the greatest spiritual crisis in this nation is the garbage passing itself off as Christianity. If those frauds—and yes, I mean the leaders and influencers who’ve traded truth for personal gain—win or lose, the game stays the same. We’re miles from the teachings of Jesus. The conservative, win-at-al...

Survey says… no matter who wins this election we’ve lost so much already. We’ve lost common decency and respect for other people, also created in the image of God. We’ve lost the ability to civilly discuss policy, facts, and statistics without calling anything contradicting our side’s narrative fraud, fascism, communism, or evil. We sound and act like spoiled children bickering, name-calling, and...

I remember playing 42 with dominos as a kid. When I was old enough to play at the adult tables at family gatherings, I felt so grown up! Several of the actual grown ups were masters of bidding all in, or 84, without the trump double. In case you didn’t have my childhood 42 indoctrination, to bid you can choose a numeric trump suit and the double domino becomes unbeatable. If your partner doesn’t h...

There’s a lot of hype today with people saying you can’t be a “Christian” without supporting or doing this or that. Yet, much of that hype absolutely ignores what Jesus actually said. Instead, it capitalizes on conspiracies, insults, ignorance and a fear-based need for power and control. That’s not Jesus. Jesus never said to make civil law enforcing sexuality or marriage standards. He never said a...

I’ve never really been into conspiracies. Okay, I did get deeply engrossed by Bigfoot in fourth grade. But for the most part, Do I believe there is some super scary secret stuff going on? Of course. Yet, I have a hard time buying a lot of the black helicopter “everything is a conspiracy” diatribes we call social media. For the most part, my perspective is, that no matter how crazy things are or mi...

✌🏼 I’ve never met a Jesus follower who didn’t want to share their faith. But in reality, few do. Why? In my experience, most people are intimidated by even the idea of talking to a stranger or someone they know about Jesus. What do you say? What if they don’t want to hear it? What then? Wanna talk about Jesus? Hang on for episode #8, How Do You Talk To Strangers About Jesus? - Without Being A Jer...

The fall of Christian superstars isn’t new. It’s a gut-wrenching pattern that keeps repeating itself. I believe the modern leadership crisis is symptomatic of how off-track “church” has become. Compare the words of Jesus to what we see and hear the most. Matthew 25:42-43 (NET) 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger an...

Who wants to stink? That’s normally not a good thing unless you happen to be a skunk or a pig. Yet, for a Jesus follower, it can mean something very different. As you follow Jesus and obey what He said, you may notice something strange. The more you try to love, forgive, and be kind, the more opposition you seem to face. Why? Jesus didn’t mince words about that. He didn’t promise all rainbows and...